Location: Hawks Agency – Control Room
Date: Day 3 of the Contract | 09:00 AM
VVRRRRR.
A technician in a blue jumpsuit drilled a massive heavy-duty bracket into the concrete wall.
The new control room on the second floor was a total mess. Empty cardboard boxes were stacked in the corners.
Thick black cables ran across the floor like snakes.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
Three different delivery guys were walking in and out carrying computer monitors.
SIIP.
Keigo Takami sat sideways on a brand new desk, ignoring the chaos. He was loudly slurping a box of apple juice.
BEEEEEEP.
"Argh!"
Bip ripped the massive headphones off his ears and threw them on the desk. He dropped his head right onto the keyboard.
"I can't do it," Bip groaned, rubbing his temples hard. "My head is literally going to split open. It's too loud."
Keigo laughed a little, taking the straw out of his mouth.
"I told you," Keigo said. "I dropped a hundred feathers out there today. That's thousands of people walking, cars honking, construction sites... it's just too much noise for one guy."
Across the room, Kaito handed a clipboard back to a delivery worker.
"Put the backup server towers in the back corner," Kaito told the worker. "We need the extra processing power online by noon."
He walked over to the main desk, sidestepping a pile of cables. He looked down at Bip. He didn't look mad. He just looked like a boss solving a bottleneck.
"You are trying to listen to the entire city at the exact same time," Kaito told him. "Don't do that. You're going to burn yourself out. Wave, what are the police scanners saying?"
Wave was sitting at the desk next to Bip. She was surrounded by three different screens and looked incredibly stressed. She tapped the small antennas on her head.
"Uh, I don't know!" Wave panicked slightly. "They talk so fast! They just throw numbers around. Wait, okay, hold on. A 10-31? Suspect fleeing on foot. Somewhere near 5th Avenue."
"Good," Kaito said, pointing at the digital map on her screen. "Bip. Forget the other ninety-nine feathers. Focus entirely on the single feather dropped at 5th Avenue. Block the rest of Fukuoka out."
Bip let out a deep, shaky breath. He picked his headphones back up and slowly put them on. He closed his eyes, gripping the edge of the desk.
The room was loud with construction noise, but Bip tried to ignore it.
"Okay," Bip muttered. "Okay... I got it. 5th Avenue."
"What do you feel?" Kaito asked.
Bip frowned, concentrating hard.
"I feel... shattering glass," Bip said slowly, his voice getting a little clearer. "And heavy boots. Someone is running on the pavement. Three people. They're moving fast down the alley behind the jewelry store."
Wave quickly typed it into her computer. "The police dispatch just confirmed it! Three suspects running down the back alley!"
"See?" Kaito said, looking over at Keigo. "He doesn't need to listen to the whole city. He just needs to learn how to filter the noise based on Wave's targets."
Keigo smiled. He crushed his empty juice box and tossed it perfectly into a trash can across the room.
"Keep it up, Bip," Keigo grinned. "You're doing great. Pretty soon you'll be waking me up from my naps to go punch people."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Hawks Agency – Third Floor Diet Lab
Date: Day 6 of the Contract | 07:30 AM
WHIRRRRR.
A heavy-duty industrial blender spun loudly on the stainless steel counter.
The third floor didn't look like a normal office anymore. It looked like a sterile, high-end commercial kitchen. Everything was sparkling clean.
GULP.
Keigo pulled a plastic shaker bottle away from his mouth and gagged. He coughed violently, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"This is poison!" Keigo yelled, staring at the thick, gray liquid inside the bottle. "I'm literally drinking wet cement! Who made this?!"
"I did."
A stern-looking nutritionist in a white lab coat crossed her arms.
Her name was Matsuda. Kaito hired her specifically because she didn't care that Keigo was a famous hero. She treated him like a stubborn teenager.
"It is a high-yield keratin protein blend," Matsuda said bluntly. "Drink the rest of it."
"Come on, Matsuda-san," Keigo whined, leaning on the counter. "I burned thirty primary feathers yesterday stopping that runaway bus. Don't I deserve a reward? Just one piece of fried chicken. Just one."
"You can have chicken when your feathers grow back," Matsuda shot him down instantly. "Drink it."
Outside the glass door of the kitchen, Bip and Wave were peeking in.
"Hehehe"
"Shh... Lower your voice... He can hear you.. But still, this is what he deserved"
"It should be bitter right?"
"Ughh, I love my diet. Never trying those supplements in my life."
They were covering their mouths, silently laughing at their boss getting bullied by the cook.
Kaito walked down the hallway, holding a tablet. He ignored the two sidekicks and walked right into the kitchen.
"Arisaka, please," Keigo begged, holding the bottle out. "Tell her I need real food."
"Drink it," Kaito said, looking at some budget spreadsheets on his tablet.
"Ughh"
Keigo groaned loudly. He plugged his nose, tilted his head back, and chugged the rest of the disgusting gray shake.
He slammed the empty bottle down on the counter, breathing hard.
"I hate both of you," Keigo grumbled, wiping a gray mustache off his upper lip. "This agency is a prison."
"Look at your back," Kaito replied, finally looking up from his tablet.
Keigo stopped complaining. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder in the reflection of the stainless steel fridge.
His golden eyes went wide.
The thirty massive red feathers he lost yesterday were already fully grown back.
They looked healthy, sharp, and totally ready to go. Normally, losing that many big feathers would leave him grounded for almost two full days.
"Whoa," Keigo muttered, stretching his wings out. The muscles didn't even ache. "They actually grew back in one night."
"I don't waste money on bad nutritionists," Kaito said. He tapped Matsuda on the shoulder. "Good work."
Matsuda just gave a sharp nod and took the empty shaker bottle to the sink.
"Now, go take a shower," Kaito told Keigo, turning around to leave. "You have a medical delivery to make at nine sharp. Don't be late."
_-_-_-_-_
Location: Airspace over Fukuoka City
Date: Day 10 of the Contract | 02:12 PM
WHOOSH.
Keigo flew high above the city skyline. The wind ripped past his ears.
He held a secure medical cooler tightly against his chest.
"Wave, talk to me," Keigo said into his earpiece. "Traffic looks awful down there. What's my path?"
Back in the control room, Wave was staring at three different monitors. She wasn't panicking anymore. She sounded completely locked in.
"Avoid the main highway, boss," Wave said over the comms. "There's a massive pileup near the bridge. Cut left past the Hakata tower. Wind speed is low, so you won't get pushed around."
"Copy that. Turning left," Keigo said, shifting his wings and banking hard around a tall glass skyscraper.
"Boss, heads up," Bip's voice suddenly cracked over the radio. "Feather grid on 8th Street is picking up heavy rotor wash. A news helicopter is hovering in your blind spot right around the next corner."
"Got it," Keigo replied.
SWOOOSH.
He immediately tucked his wings in and dropped altitude. He fell fast, flying right underneath the news helicopter just as he rounded the corner. The camera crew didn't even see him pass.
"Clear," Keigo said, snapping his wings back out to catch the air. "I see the hospital. Coming in hot."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Fukuoka General Hospital – Rooftop
Time: 02:15 PM
Keigo dropped out of the sky and landed perfectly on the hospital roof. The heavy wind from his wings blew dust across the concrete.
A team of doctors and nurses were already waiting by the helipad. They looked frantic.
Keigo jogged forward and handed the medical cooler straight to the lead surgeon.
"Type O-Negative," Keigo smiled, giving them a casual salute. "Picked it up from the Hakata blood bank three minutes ago."
"Thank you, Hawks!" the surgeon gasped, grabbing the cooler tightly. "You just saved a little girl's life! We couldn't get an ambulance through the downtown traffic in time!"
CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.
The nurses cheered and clapped for him. The news helicopter finally caught up and hovered nearby, pointing a massive camera right at the rooftop.
Keigo smiled and waved at the camera before launching himself back into the air.
He tapped his earpiece as he flew away.
"Delivery complete," Keigo said. "How we looking back at base?"
"Insane," Wave laughed through the radio. We could hear her aggressively typing on her keyboard. "Boss, your social contribution points on the Billboard just spiked. Like, a massive spike."
"Really?" Keigo asked, flying higher into the clouds.
"Yeah!" Wave cheered. "You literally just earned more approval points in a three-minute delivery run than you did punching those three bank robbers yesterday!"
Keigo hovered in the air for a second, looking down at the sprawling city. He didn't throw a single punch.
He just carried a box. But the people down there were treating him like a complete legend.
He laughed to himself, shaking his head.
"Man," Keigo said over the comms. "Kaito was right. Delivering blood bags actually works."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Tokyo – Uwabami's Private Office
Date: Wednesday | 10:00 AM |
FLIP.
Uwabami turned the glossy page of the fashion magazine. She smiled. Mirko was on the cover again.
She sat in a plush makeup chair inside her penthouse agency in Tokyo.
A stylist was carefully touching up her foundation, making sure not to upset the three golden snakes moving in her hair.
It had been exactly six months since Kaito Arisaka carried her shopping bags down the street and told her to change her whole brand.
A lot happened since then. Kaito went to America to manage Star and Stripe, came back to push Mirko into the rankings, and now he was busy building an agency for Hawks down in Kyushu.
But the business plan Kaito left her? It was working flawlessly.
"That's good for now, thank you," Uwabami told the stylist. "Send him in."
The stylist bowed and quickly left the room. A few seconds later, a very wealthy, very frantic corporate executive rushed inside.
He was sweating right through his expensive suit.
"Please, Uwabami," the CEO begged. He gripped the edge of her mahogany desk. "The police have been looking for three days. My daughter was taken by an underground syndicate. They want ten million yen in ransom!"
Uwabami didn't jump out of her chair. She didn't act like a street hero ready for a brawl.
She just smiled calmly and crossed her legs.
"Take a deep breath, sir," Uwabami said softly. "You came to the right place. Did you bring what I asked for?"
The CEO swallowed hard. He dug into his briefcase and pulled out a small pink scarf.
"Yes! Here. She wore this right before they grabbed her," he said, pushing it across the desk. "The normal heroes are useless! They just patrol the streets looking for a fight. They don't know where to look in a city this big!"
"Exactly," Uwabami agreed, taking the scarf. "Brawlers can't fight what they can't find."
She closed her eyes.
HSSSS.
The three snakes in her hair raised their heads. Their tongues flicked out, tasting the air.
They completely ignored the smell of expensive perfume and locked onto the specific DNA scent woven into the fabric of the scarf.
The snakes all turned their heads at the exact same time. They pointed straight toward the eastern side of Tokyo.
Uwabami opened her eyes. She grabbed a solid gold pen and a small white premium card. She quickly wrote down an address.
An abandoned warehouse down by the old harbor.
She slid the card across the desk, stopping right in the middle. She left it face-down.
The CEO reached for it, but Uwabami placed her perfectly manicured hand flat on top of the card.
"Wait, aren't you going to come with me?" the CEO asked, looking confused. "Aren't you going to go save her?"
Uwabami laughed softly.
"I have a national shampoo commercial to shoot in exactly one hour," Uwabami told him smoothly. "I am not going to ruin a designer dress fighting street thugs in a dirty warehouse."
The CEO stared at her. "Then what am I supposed to do?!"
"Give this address to the police SWAT team," Uwabami said simply. "They do the punching for free. My agency is strictly a High-Bounty Retrieval service. I found your daughter. She is safe."
Uwabami tapped her painted nails on the back of the card.
"My fee is two million yen," Uwabami smiled. "Wire transfer only. Right now."
The CEO didn't even argue. He whipped out his phone and rapidly typed in his banking app.
BEEP.
A tablet on Uwabami's desk lit up. It confirmed the massive deposit went straight through.
She lifted her hand off the card.
The CEO snatched it, read the address, and ran out of the office crying tears of relief.
Uwabami leaned back in her comfortable chair. She looked at the tablet showing the two million yen deposit.
She made that money in five minutes without throwing a single punch, getting her clothes dirty, or risking her life at all.
She picked up her handheld mirror and checked her lipstick.
"Kaito Arisaka," Uwabami purred to herself. "You really are a great man."
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Fukuoka Shipping Docks – Pier 4
Date: Thursday | 03:00 AM
THUD.
A heavy wooden crate hit the metal floor of the shipping container.
"Careful with that, you idiot!" Mario Kugutsu snapped, rubbing his tired eyes. "Do you want to blow us all up? Pick it up gently!"
Two bribed dockworkers grumbled and slowly pushed the crate deeper into the dark container.
It was three in the morning. It was freezing cold, and a thick fog covered the ocean water.
The docks were completely dead and silent.
Mario stood near the edge of the pier wearing dirty blue overalls and a hard hat. He hated this.
He was a veteran. He used to run elite operations for the Villain Factory. But Queen Bee was dead. Number Nine was locked up in a high-security prison. Mario was the only one left from the old crew. Now, the League of Villains had him playing night-shift delivery boy.
"Boss, that's the last of the rifles," one of the thugs said, wiping sweat off his neck. "Just the chemical drums left."
"Then hurry up and move them," Mario growled. "The cargo ship leaves at eight-thirty. I want these doors locked before the sun even comes up. The warp-gate guy is pulling me out of here the second we finish."
He pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders. He felt safe in the dark. Standard police patrols never came down to Pier 4 at this hour. He just had to get through the next few hours.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: High Above Pier 4 – Crane Cabin
Date: Thursday | 03:15 AM
High above the freezing docks, sitting inside the glass cabin of a massive yellow crane, Kenji was fighting for his life against sleep.
He was a regular dockworker pulling a double overtime shift. He was miserable.
He took a bite of a cold convenience store sandwich and turned up the volume on his small cabin radio.
Upbeat late-night jazz played softly. He always listened to *Put Your Hands Up Radio* to keep his eyes open on the graveyard shift.
Kenji yawned loudly and rubbed his tired eyes.
When he opened them, his quirk accidentally turned on.
Kenji had a very weak, very boring Thermal Vision quirk. He usually just used it to see if his coffee was still hot.
He looked down at the pitch-black pier below.
"What the hell?" Kenji whispered, freezing with the sandwich halfway to his mouth.
Down on Pier 4, he didn't just see wooden crates.
His thermal vision was picking up blinding red heat signatures.
The enhanced Trigger chemicals inside the barrels were radiating massive amounts of heat in the freezing night air.
Right next to them, the heavy batteries of the illegal rifles glowed bright orange.
Kenji dropped his sandwich on the floor.
He started sweating.
He was just a normal guy who moved shipping containers. He knew he couldn't call the dock manager. The manager was probably bribed to look the other way.
He looked at his radio. Present Mic was talking smoothly over a jazz beat.
Kenji remembered the new rule the radio host started pushing a few months ago.
Don't be a hero. Just call and complain about the traffic.
With shaking hands, Kenji grabbed his cell phone and dialed the station's hotline.
BZZZT. BZZZT.
_-_-_-_-_-_
Location: Put Your Hands Up Radio – Main Studio
Date: Thursday | 03:20 AM
The studio was dark except for the glowing mixing boards and the red "ON AIR" sign.
Hizashi Yamada sat behind the microphone, completely relaxed.
"Alright, night owls," Yamada purred over the airwaves. "Let's check the late-night roads. Line three, you're live with Mic. Talk to me."
"H-hey, Mic," a terrified, shaking voice came through the studio speakers.
"Hey man, take a deep breath," Yamada said, his voice dropping to a calm, steady tone. "You sound a little stressed. How's the traffic looking out there?"
"It's... it's really bad," Kenji stammered. "I'm a crane operator. Down at the Fukuoka shipping docks. Pier four. There's a massive traffic jam in the dark. A few guys moving heavy, illegal car parts. They look really hot. Like, dangerous hot."
Behind the soundproof glass, the producers immediately snapped awake.
One producer typed the location into the computer.
[Fukuoka Docks. Pier 4. High heat signatures. Suspected weapons/drugs.]
The lead producer grabbed a standard black phone on his desk.
He dialed the local Fukuoka police dispatch and asked for a quiet patrol unit and a couple of local underground heroes to check it out.
They didn't think it was a massive threat yet. Just a standard late-night smuggling ring.
"I hear you loud and clear, operator," Yamada said over the radio, never breaking his smooth DJ persona. "Nobody likes a nasty traffic jam in the dark. We'll send a couple of local tow trucks down to Pier four right now to check it out. Lock your cabin doors and stay safe, alright?"
"Y-yeah. Thanks, Mic," Kenji breathed out a heavy sigh of relief.
CLICK.
Yamada cut the line and turned the jazz music back up. He looked through the glass and gave his producers a thumbs-up.
_-_-_-_-_
Location: Put Your Hands Up Radio – Main Studio
Date: Thursday | 08:10 AM (Five Hours Later)
The sun was finally coming up over the city. The late-night jazz had switched over to the upbeat morning playlist.
Behind the glass, the night-shift producers were packing up their bags.
They were drinking coffee, totally exhausted, waiting for the morning crew to take over.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Suddenly, the emergency police scanner on their desk lit up like a Christmas tree. The red lights flashed aggressively.
The lead producer spilled his coffee. He slammed his headphones onto his ears.
"Officer down! I repeat, officer down at Pier four!" a frantic, terrified cop screamed over the radio channel.
Gunfire and massive explosions echoed in the background of the police feed.
"We need backup right now!" the cop yelled. "The local heroes are down! The suspect is heavily armed and heavily modified! We can't hold him! We need Top Billboard backup immediately! He's going to wipe us out!"
The lead producer's face went completely pale.
This wasn't a standard smuggling ring.
The local cops and underground heroes they sent hours ago had spent all night scouting the dark pier trying to verify the threat.
But when they finally moved in to make the arrest at dawn, the smuggler completely destroyed them.
"They're getting slaughtered," the second producer panicked, standing up from his chair. "What do we do?!"
The lead producer didn't hesitate. He ignored the standard dispatch phone.
He reached across the desk and grabbed the bright red emergency phone. The direct line to the HPSC network.
"Escalate it!" the lead producer shouted. "Ping the closest Top 30 Pro Hero in Kyushu right now!"
He hit the button, sending the massive distress signal straight to the Hawks Agency.
_-_-_-_-_
Location: Hawks Agency – Training Gym
Date: Thursday | 08:15 AM
PANT.
PANT.
Keigo dropped to his knees on the padded floor of the gym. He was sweating heavily. He took a huge gulp of air.
Three of his primary feathers were stuck deep inside the concrete wall instead of the wooden targets.
"This is impossible," Keigo groaned, letting his head hang down.
"Here," Kaito said. He walked over to the bench, grabbed a cold bottle of water, and tossed it.
CATCH.
Keigo caught the bottle and chugged half of it in three seconds.
"I'm a bird, Arisaka. Not a calculator," Keigo complained, wiping his mouth. "Doing physics math in my head while trying to turn a feather ninety degrees? It just drags and crashes."
Kaito sat down on the wooden bench next to him.
"You're overthinking the math," Kaito told him calmly. "I gave you the physics concepts so you understand why wind drag happens. But when you are actually up there flying? Stop calculating."
Keigo looked at him, catching his breath.
"Trust your gut," Kaito said, leaning his elbows on his knees. "You know how the wind feels better than anyone else alive. Stop forcing the feathers to turn, and just let them ride the slipstream naturally."
Keigo slowly smirked.
"Wow," Keigo joked. "Was that an actual compliment from the Golden Manager?"
"Don't get used to it," Kaito replied smoothly, though a tiny smirk crossed his own face. "Top Ten heroes don't get to complain about math. Now get up. Try the defense."
Keigo stood up and stretched his wings out. He took a deep breath.
"Friction cage," Keigo muttered.
He pointed his hand at a heavy hanging punching bag in the middle of the room.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Hundreds of tiny down feathers detached from his back.
"Don't think about the vacuum pressure," Kaito said from the bench. "Just swirl them. Fast and tight."
Keigo swept his arm in a fast, violent circle.
WHOOSH.
The feathers swarmed the bag. They spun violently, creating a localized red tornado. The wind pressure inside the gym instantly dropped.
The heavy leather punching bag started groaning under the massive pressure.
CRRACK.
The thick leather of the bag actually tore open from the sheer friction and air pressure. Sand spilled out onto the floor.
Keigo dropped his arm. The feathers stopped spinning and instantly returned to his wings.
The bag was totally ruined.
Keigo stared at his own hands. He looked completely amazed.
"Okay," Keigo breathed out. "That is terrifying."
Kaito smiled genuinely.
"I told you," Kaito said. "You just needed the right playbook."
BAM.
The heavy gym doors flew open, slamming against the wall.
Bip and Wave ran inside.
They didn't look excited or out of breath from running.
They looked absolutely terrified. Bip was gripping his tablet so hard his knuckles were white.
Keigo's lazy smile vanished instantly. His golden eyes went totally sharp.
"Boss!" Bip yelled, his voice cracking. "HPSC Red Alert!"
"What happened?" Keigo asked, walking quickly toward them.
"Pier four down at the docks," Wave said, talking fast. "The local police went in to bust a smuggler a few minutes ago. But it was a trap. The guy is a heavy hitter. He's heavily armed and using Trigger."
"They just sent out an 'Officer Down' distress signal," Bip added, swallowing hard. "The local cops and underground heroes are getting totally wiped out. Dispatch hit the panic button. They need Top Billboard backup right now!"
Keigo didn't hesitate for a single second. He grabbed his hero jacket off the bench and threw it on.
He looked over at Kaito.
Kaito stepped right up to Keigo. His face was dead serious, showing real professional urgency and genuine concern.
"The police are completely outgunned," Kaito told him directly. "This is a real threat, Keigo. Save the officers first. That is your absolute priority."
Keigo nodded firmly.
"And do not get dragged into a fistfight with a heavy hitter," Kaito warned him. "Keep your distance. Use the friction cage to lock him down."
Keigo grinned.
He really appreciated that Kaito trusted him to handle the heavy lifting.
"You got it, Manager," Keigo said.
He walked over to the massive gym window and pushed the heavy glass panels open.
The cold morning wind blew into the room.
He stepped up onto the window ledge and spread his massive red wings wide.
FWOOSH.
He launched himself out of the building. The sonic boom of his wings shattered the quiet morning air.
Kaito stood in the gym, watching him disappear into the city skyline.
Then, Kaito turned right back to the sidekicks. He was in full command mode.
"Bip, get the police scanners up on the main gym speakers," Kaito ordered quickly. "Wave, patch his comms through. I want to hear exactly what is happening down there."
"Yes, sir!" they both yelled, sprinting back to the control room.
_-_-_-_-_-
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(9 Advanced Chapters)